iLoveSkydiving.org » cutawayhttp://iloveskydiving.org Aerial awesomeness. Served fresh, daily.Tue, 03 Mar 2015 13:48:35 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1Friday Freakout: How NOT To Pack A Parachutehttp://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-how-not-to-pack-a-parachute/ http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-how-not-to-pack-a-parachute/#commentsFri, 27 Feb 2015 14:03:44 +0000Andrewhttp://iloveskydiving.org/?p=16522When you pay for a pack job, the last thing you’d expect is a step-through and a misrouted toggle (at least that’s what this looks like), yet that’s exactly what Tom got on his next jump. Money well spent :p

]]>When you pay for a pack job, the last thing you’d expect is a step-through and a misrouted toggle (at least that’s what this looks like), yet that’s exactly what Tom got on his next jump. Money well spent :p

]]>During a Wingsuit Speed Camp at Skydive DeLand, Steve Hubbard experienced an uncontrollable spin while flying with Jay Moledzki and another jumper as part of the experienced group. Nearing break off, Steve makes a small movement to check his airspace and locate Jay, which results in an unrecoverable spin. Steve responded by deploying his main canopy to get out of the spin. Unsurprisingly, the main opened with line twists, and following the cutaway, Steve landed safely under his reserve. Huge thanks to Steve for sharing his video and recollection of the jump so that others can learn from this incident.

Here’s Steve recollection of the jump:

This was the last jump on day one of the Wingsuit Speed Camp held at Skydive Deland, hosted by Carlos Pedro Briceño, Jay Moledzki, and Rob Heron. Things had been progressing nicely throughout the jumps earlier in the day, with the groups getting tighter and faster. On the last jump of the day, we really wanted to push it and end the day on a very strong note, setting the stage for the remaining 2 days of the camp.

On the jump, everything started out very typical, just faster than the previous jumps. Jay was flying faster, which made me have to fly faster. I was working hard to stay in my assigned slot in our formation (forward and to the left of Jay). We were flying strong, yet relaxed, and according to Jay’s FlySight data, we reached speeds of 150 MPH horizontally. As the jump continued, we executed our turns with no real issues. There were a couple of points where I slipped a little out of slot, but was able to come back and slide back in with little problem – everything was going great.

Once we made our final turn on to the return leg of our planned flight, we really turned up the speeds, as we had been doing on earlier jumps. Things were feeling great. I got a bit out in front of Jay and wanted to maintain visual contact with him and this is where the trouble started.

Once out in front, I turned my head to look back at Jay, but couldn’t see him. He was blocked by my right arm wing. Not a real problem – I could just lift up my shoulder, which should clear my view and I’ll be able to see where he is. Sure enough, that worked. Once I had Jay in my sights again, I returned my focus to straight ahead and attempted to return to my standard flight position, lowering my right arm back down to where it should be. In doing that, I over-corrected and my right shoulder dipped lower than it should have, allowing the 150+ MPH wind to hit the top of my shoulder arm wing, pushing me way off axis. This can be clearly seen in the video – when my right shoulder is far below my left I look almost sideways! After reviewing the jump videos and talking to several highly experienced wingsuiters, it is that moment – where my right shoulder was below my left that was the beginning of the end. I tried to correct the situation, knowing that this could get bad quickly. I rushed that correction and that’s what started my roll (which you can also see in the video, from both perspectives).

Despite everything happening incredibly fast (all this took place in about 2 seconds), I till realize how much trouble I was in. Once the roll started, at those speeds, there really was no recovering it for me, but I tried everything I could think of in the moment. It seemed anything I did only made the situation worse. I was able to stop the rolling, but that only put me on my back, in an uncontrolled flat spin. It was here when I knew I was in major trouble. Thankfully, I had a fairly clear idea of where I was, altitude wise. The roll started at approximately 4500’ and the flat spin started very shortly after that. In the middle of the flat spin, while trying to recover and fly out of it, I had so many things going through my mind at what seemed like lightning fast speeds, yet I could very clearly hear my audible altimeter beeping at the prescribed altitudes – I heard my 4000’ alarm go off shortly after everything started, and then I heard my 3500’ alarm go off some time after that. At some point, between my 3500’ alarm and my final 2500’ alarm, I came to the realization that recovery and stability was just not going to happen – I had to resort to plan B.

Plan B. Yikes. I completely abandoned whatever stability I was hoping to obtain and immediately ran through every option I had. All I could hear is the voice of my mentor and friend, Scotty Burns, who taught me how to wingsuit. 2 things stuck out in my mind. First was that if you stay in a flat spin long enough, you run the risk of passing out, due to the centrifugal forces of the spin. The more violent the spin, the less time you have. My friends and I counted, after I was down on the ground – I did 21 rotations in 13 seconds – I don’t know if that would be considered violent, but it sure seemed pretty fast to me. I knew I had to end the spin one way or the other, and I had to do so fast. The second thing I remember Scotty telling me was that if you ever go completely unstable, you need to get a canopy out – this will at least slow things down and make them more manageable.

So my decision was made. I knew going to my reserve in that state was out of the question. I had to get my hand to my pilot chute and get my main canopy out, one way or the other. Now this sounds easy enough, but factor in the centrifugal forces from the spin and the massive inflation in the arm wings of the suit – this was no simple task. I estimate that it took me about 5 dedicated seconds to get my hands back to my pilot chute. Once I felt my hacky, I immediately deployed my main canopy, already knowing that there was no way this was going to come out cleanly and that I was certainly going to have to cut away – I was willing to sacrifice my main canopy for some semblance of stability. The main canopy came out (you can see it deploying over my right shoulder), yet the fun wasn’t over yet. As the canopy deployed, because of the spin, the lines were dragged across my helmet, from the right side to the left, and in doing so, it snagged on something – I’m still not quite sure what, but all of a sudden, my head was being pulled to the right. I now had to clear the snag before I cut away the main canopy, which had opened in an incredible amount of line twists and almost immediately started diving at the ground. I estimate that I was at approximately 2500’ when the main canopy came and stopped my flat spin – but the important thing is that it STOPPED MY FLAT SPIN.

I estimate that it took me approximately 3-5 seconds to clear the lines that were caught on my helmet, which allowed the canopy to come out in front of my, with my head going between the risers, giving me a brief view of the canopy – no good. It had line twists practically up the entire line set, from risers to canopy. Again – I was fully expecting a main canopy malfunction, so the view up the lines was just out of habit and to confirm. I immediately reached for my cutaway and reserve handles, pulled one, then the other, and AMAZINGLY, I had one of the best reserve canopy deployments I have ever seen. On heading, no line twists, flying straight and stable and it even had the courtesy of aiming me directly back to the dropzone, giving me a chance to land in a clear and open area.

Once the reserve was out and I realized that the situation was finally under control, I took a second to collect myself. I unzipped my arms from the wingsuit and looked at my altimeter – it read just above 1100’. To be honest, I really expected to be much lower than that – it felt that so much time had passed – I was truly surprised. I unzipped my legs from the suit and landed safely.

In the end, the important things I think to take from my ordeal are these.

1.Pay attention to your training and NEVER, EVER get complacent. You’ll never know when you’ll need it. 2. Even when things go wrong, it is vital to keep your composure and do your best to stay calm. Panicking will only make things worse. 3. And maybe most importantly, you need to analyze your options, make the best decision you can, based on your training, knowledge, and experience, and once your decision is made on how to act, execute that decision, immediately. You can’t afford to wait. You’ll run out of time and altitude before you know it.

Hopefully this experience will help my fellow wingsuiters in some fashion – be safe everyone!

]]>http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-steve-hubbard-uncontrollable-wingsuit-flat-spin-line-twists-cutaway/feed/0Friday Freakout: BASE Jump Cutaway Goes Horribly Wrong… Lucky To Be Alive!!http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-base-jump-cutaway-goes-horribly-wrong-lucky-to-be-alive/ http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-base-jump-cutaway-goes-horribly-wrong-lucky-to-be-alive/#commentsFri, 20 Feb 2015 13:58:53 +0000Andrewhttp://iloveskydiving.org/?p=16490There are some people who get one chance at life and there are those who get 9 lives — either due to their cat-like reflexes or just sheer luck. Then there’s Sketchy Andy — a manboy who continually cheats death and who has officially used 22 of his 9 lives after this intentional BASE jump [...]

]]>There are some people who get one chance at life and there are those who get 9 lives — either due to their cat-like reflexes or just sheer luck. Then there’s Sketchy Andy — a manboy who continually cheats death and who has officially used 22 of his 9 lives after this intentional BASE jump cutaway that goes horribly wrong.

]]>http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-base-jump-cutaway-goes-horribly-wrong-lucky-to-be-alive/feed/0Friday Freakout: Skydiver Nearly Hits Parachute In Freefall After Cutawayhttp://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydiver-nearly-hits-parachute-in-freefall-after-cutaway/ http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydiver-nearly-hits-parachute-in-freefall-after-cutaway/#commentsFri, 30 Jan 2015 13:04:36 +0000Andrewhttp://iloveskydiving.org/?p=16396Line twists lead to a cutaway, which sends a skydiver flying through another canopy’s airspace. Yet another reason why proper separation at break-off is so important. And an RSL isn’t a bad idea either, but I’m sure some of you have an opinion about that.

]]>Line twists lead to a cutaway, which sends a skydiver flying through another canopy’s airspace. Yet another reason why proper separation at break-off is so important. And an RSL isn’t a bad idea either, but I’m sure some of you have an opinion about that.

]]>http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydive-student-pulls-instructors-cutaway-handle-on-exit/feed/0Friday Freakout: Reserve Parachute Snags On GoPro. Scary Stuff!http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-reserve-parachute-snags-on-gopro-scary-stuff/ http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-reserve-parachute-snags-on-gopro-scary-stuff/#commentsFri, 02 Jan 2015 12:54:07 +0000Andrewhttp://iloveskydiving.org/?p=16266A wingsuit pilot experiences line twists that lead to a cutaway. The reserve snags on the rear-facing GoPro, which delays and further complicates the reserve deployment until the GoPro mount breaks. If this happened at a much lower altitude or sub-terminal speed (think BASE), the pilot chute may not have generated enough drag to break [...]

]]>A wingsuit pilot experiences line twists that lead to a cutaway. The reserve snags on the rear-facing GoPro, which delays and further complicates the reserve deployment until the GoPro mount breaks. If this happened at a much lower altitude or sub-terminal speed (think BASE), the pilot chute may not have generated enough drag to break the camera mount and this malfunction could’ve been fatal. The main lesson to be learned is that regardless of how big or small your camera(s), the mount placement should never interfere with the deployment of your main or reserve in any direction. Video is not worth dying for.

The skydiver who graciously shared this video with us has since switched to a safer/low profile camera setup. Please check your gear people.

]]>Wow. There’s so much “WTF!” going on in this video that it’s hard to keep track. I’m not a paragliding expert, but I’m pretty sure a parachute isn’t supposed to rip in half — ever. Talk about an exciting tandem paragliding experience!

]]>http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-paraglider-rips-in-half-almost-ends-in-disaster/feed/0Friday Freakout: WTF?! Mangled Malfunction…http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydive-line-over-mangled-malfunction/ http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydive-line-over-mangled-malfunction/#commentsFri, 31 Oct 2014 12:04:24 +0000Andrewhttp://iloveskydiving.org/?p=15970If there’s anything worse than exiting a plane at 8,500 feet and pulling by 7,000 feet, it’s having to play cat’s cradle with your lines as your parachute dives towards the earth. Therese managed to get the lines on both left risers around everything else, resulting in this mangled malfunction and many expletives.

]]>If there’s anything worse than exiting a plane at 8,500 feet and pulling by 7,000 feet, it’s having to play cat’s cradle with your lines as your parachute dives towards the earth. Therese managed to get the lines on both left risers around everything else, resulting in this mangled malfunction and many expletives.

]]>http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydive-line-over-mangled-malfunction/feed/0Friday Freakout: The WTF-Wingsuit-Rodeo-Flyby-Canopy-Wrap-Double-Cutaway Malfunctionhttp://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydive-wingsuit-rodeo-canopy-wrap-double-cutaway-malfunction/ http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydive-wingsuit-rodeo-canopy-wrap-double-cutaway-malfunction/#commentsFri, 12 Sep 2014 11:54:09 +0000Andrewhttp://iloveskydiving.org/?p=15657I know we all make mistakes, but if skydivers like this are sharing the same airspace as the rest of us, they should at least be wearing home arrest-style ankle bracelets so we can keep track of them in the sky. The madness all starts off with a botched wingsuit rodeo, which turns into a [...]

]]>I know we all make mistakes, but if skydivers like this are sharing the same airspace as the rest of us, they should at least be wearing home arrest-style ankle bracelets so we can keep track of them in the sky. The madness all starts off with a botched wingsuit rodeo, which turns into a 2-way belly jump, followed by a wingsuit flyby under canopy. Then they switch gears and give CRW a try, which I’m assuming they discussed for the first time on the ride up to altitude. The end result is a sketchy canopy wrap, double cutaway, and landing on the side of the road.

]]>http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydive-wingsuit-rodeo-canopy-wrap-double-cutaway-malfunction/feed/0Friday Freakout: Skydiver Survives Terrifying Cutaway Entanglementhttp://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydiver-survives-terrifying-cutaway-entanglement/ http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydiver-survives-terrifying-cutaway-entanglement/#commentsFri, 05 Sep 2014 13:37:08 +0000Andrewhttp://iloveskydiving.org/?p=15598If you can land safely after a cutaway that involves your reserve getting entangled with your main canopy and lines flying everywhere, I’d say that’s a good reason to crack a beer, change your underwear and call it a day. This mess happened to my friend (aptly nicknamed) Mali. Not only did her reserve entangle [...]

]]>If you can land safely after a cutaway that involves your reserve getting entangled with your main canopy and lines flying everywhere, I’d say that’s a good reason to crack a beer, change your underwear and call it a day. This mess happened to my friend (aptly nicknamed) Mali. Not only did her reserve entangle with the main canopy, but once the reserve finally inflated, it was also entangled with her camera helmet. The helmet cutaway system didn’t work as advertised, but she managed to release the helmet with the ratchets. The helmet remained caught on her lines and she landed on rear risers. Lost her GoPro, retrieved her main canopy from the lake, and luckily had another camera to capture this intense malfunction. All in all, that makes for one hell of an exciting Sunday.

]]>http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydiver-survives-terrifying-cutaway-entanglement/feed/0Friday Freakout: Another Wild Parachute Wraphttp://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-another-wild-parachute-wrap/ http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-another-wild-parachute-wrap/#commentsFri, 01 Aug 2014 15:00:44 +0000Andrewhttp://www.iloveskydiving.org/?p=5618What starts out as a solid 4-stack CRW (canopy relative work) rotation by Team Hypoxia quickly turns into four good friends trying to kill each other in another wild parachute wrap. Surprisingly, this mess only resulted in one cutaway.

]]>What starts out as a solid 4-stack CRW (canopy relative work) rotation by Team Hypoxia quickly turns into four good friends trying to kill each other in another wild parachute wrap. Surprisingly, this mess only resulted in one cutaway.

]]>http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-another-wild-parachute-wrap/feed/0Two-Minute Cutaway!http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/two-and-a-half-minute-cutaway-movie/ http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/two-and-a-half-minute-cutaway-movie/#commentsMon, 28 Jul 2014 11:55:45 +0000Andrewhttp://iloveskydiving.org/?p=13029Here’s a solid two and a half minutes of nothing but cutting away. You think I’m joking? Do yourself a favor and cutaway — save yourself! The first person to name this (classic?) movie wins one FREE cutaway.

]]>http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydiver-gives-up-cuts-away-mid-swoop/feed/0Friday Freakout: Skydiver Survives Terrifying Low Cutaway, Lands In Treeshttp://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydiver-survives-terrifying-low-cutaway-tree-landing/ http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydiver-survives-terrifying-low-cutaway-tree-landing/#commentsFri, 27 Jun 2014 11:55:31 +0000Andrewhttp://iloveskydiving.org/?p=15240When your world is spinning ’round under canopy, it’s usually best to cutaway before, say, you can count the pine needles on the trees. Either way, a low cutaway and landing in trees with minimal injuries sure is better than dying. The conclusion: a tension knot, heavy winter clothes and a stuck handle makes for [...]

]]>When your world is spinning ’round under canopy, it’s usually best to cutaway before, say, you can count the pine needles on the trees. Either way, a low cutaway and landing in trees with minimal injuries sure is better than dying. The conclusion: a tension knot, heavy winter clothes and a stuck handle makes for one bad day.

]]>http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydiver-survives-terrifying-low-cutaway-tree-landing/feed/0Friday Freakout: Crazy Canopy Collision, Double Cutawayhttp://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydive-parachute-collision-double-cutaway/ http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydive-parachute-collision-double-cutaway/#commentsFri, 30 May 2014 13:52:30 +0000Andrewhttp://iloveskydiving.org/?p=15123There’s lots of space in the sky… until you get twisted up with line twists, spin out of control, then hit your friend under canopy, causing both of you to cutaway. Solution? More horizontal separation never hurts, but hitting another canopy does.

]]>There’s lots of space in the sky… until you get twisted up with line twists, spin out of control, then hit your friend under canopy, causing both of you to cutaway. Solution? More horizontal separation never hurts, but hitting another canopy does.

]]>http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydive-parachute-collision-double-cutaway/feed/0Friday Freakout: Step-Through Reserve = Double WTF Malfunction!http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-step-through-skydive-reserve-parachute-double-malfunction/ http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-step-through-skydive-reserve-parachute-double-malfunction/#commentsFri, 09 May 2014 11:55:14 +0000Andrewhttp://iloveskydiving.org/?p=15017When you’re dealing with a spinning malfunction in your wingsuit, the last thing you want (or expect) is a step-through on your reserve once you cutaway. But, hey, there’s a first time for everything. He also probably could’ve done without the backflip through the risers to try and clear the step-through. At least his rigger [...]

]]>When you’re dealing with a spinning malfunction in your wingsuit, the last thing you want (or expect) is a step-through on your reserve once you cutaway. But, hey, there’s a first time for everything. He also probably could’ve done without the backflip through the risers to try and clear the step-through. At least his rigger owes him beer instead of the other way around — another first!

]]>http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-step-through-skydive-reserve-parachute-double-malfunction/feed/0Friday Freakout: Low Cutaway, Open By 650 Feet!http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydive-malfunction-low-parachute-cutaway-open-by-650-feet/ http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydive-malfunction-low-parachute-cutaway-open-by-650-feet/#commentsFri, 04 Apr 2014 12:00:10 +0000Andrewhttp://iloveskydiving.org/?p=14852Kicking out a few solid line twists feels good. Having a low cutaway and an open reserve by 650 feet feels even better.

]]>http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-skydive-malfunction-low-parachute-cutaway-open-by-650-feet/feed/0Friday Freakout: Sketchy Cutaway Fly-Byhttp://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-sketchy-cutaway-fly-by/ http://iloveskydiving.org/view/videos/friday-freakout-sketchy-cutaway-fly-by/#commentsFri, 21 Feb 2014 12:57:46 +0000Andrewhttp://iloveskydiving.org/?p=14635Horizontal separation at break off is usually a good thing to avoid canopy collisions, or when your buddy chops and flies past you in freefall.

]]>No more feeling inadequate and leaving your girlfriend/wife/mistress with the time to question why she’s even with you. BASE Girl Glair Marie showcases Bra Be Gone™ — a revolutionary new quick-release cutaway bra. DISCLAIMER: While practical and efficient, this bra does not guarantee you’ll get laid or will improve your sexual performance.